Nino was an energetic Fox Red Labrador Retriever, and since he began on the path towards becoming a FEMA-Certified Disaster Search Dog, he impressed everyone he met with his athleticism and drive. Added to this is the absolute joy he finds in barking—which, for a Search Dog, is a powerful tool. …
Ellen Perryess, a 9-year veteran volunteer for the San Luis Obispo (SLO) County Animal Shelter, learned about the Search Dog Foundation (SDF) from her friend and now SDF Canine Recruiter, Heidi Miller-Mercer. Heidi has been a canine evaluator for SDF for many years and was helping Ellen learn to evaluate …
Eight SDF-trained canine disaster search teams achieve certification in first weeks of 2020! Over the last two weekends, canine disaster search teams traveled from all over the country to take their FEMA Certification Evaluations in Miami, FL, and Phoenix, AZ. On January 26, veteran SDF-trained search team Roxanne Bauman & …
On January 27, 2020, SDF-trained search teams in the San Diego area deployed to search for two missing people following a vehicle rollover: Three SDF-trained search dogs were called into action on Monday, January 27, in the Granite Hills area of El Cajon, California, after a vehicle rolled over a …
On January 4 and 5, 2020, eight canine disaster search teams from Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee joined veteran handlers and instructors Teresa MacPherson (Virginia Task Force 1) & Deborah Burnett (Tennessee Task Force 1) at the National Training Center (NTC) for the final in a series of four …
On Friday, December 13, 2019, two new canine disaster search teams joined the nation’s elite roster of urban search and rescue task forces at the Search Dog Foundation’s (SDF) National Training Center. These new teams will now train together in preparation for federal certification, which will allow them to deploy …
Leila began her life as a candidate for Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, CA, where she was learning to be a companion dog to the blind and visually impaired. Staff there soon realized that her incredible toy drive and endless energy would be better put to use in another …
On September 28-29, 2019, canine disaster search teams from across the United States joined veteran handlers and instructors Teresa MacPherson (Virginia Task Force 1) & Deborah Burnett (Tennessee Task Force 1) at the National Training Center (NTC) for the third in a series of four disaster search workshops in 2019. …
